Porto manager Sérgio Conceição has again hit out at Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, accusing him of ‘conditioning’ referees.
The Porto boss has been in something of a war of words with the City boss over the last month, with the two clubs involved in bitter exchanges around their matches in the Champions League.
That continued when Guardiola criticised Porto’s defensive tactics, having seen his side fail to break down the Portuguese side despite dominating possession and enjoying 18 shots on goal compared to their two.
Those comments led Conceição to hit back and joke about Manchester City’s failure to beat his side, claiming he’d be sad too if he had their budget and playing squad at his disposal.
His battle with fellow managers has continued through the week, with Tondela boss Pako Ayestaran criticising Porto’s behaviour towards officials in Liga NOS.
Conceição obviously couldn’t let that stand and hit back in his own press conference today, expertly managing to point the finger at Manchester City and Guardiola again in response to the comments from Ayestaran.
“If [Ayestaran) said anything at the end of the game, it would make sense, even if it is not true…” O Jogo report him saying.
“Now, this is a crude way of conditioning the referees, in my opinion, which apparently is well in vogue with Spanish coaches.
“One is Catalan [Guardiola], another is Basque… But they are Spanish. We have faced Spanish coaches who have this characteristic.”
